New Delhi: With Kerala adding backlog of 563 COVID deaths that had previously gone unreported, India on Saturday witnessed a surge in single-day spike of deaths, pushing the total toll to 4,53,708, while 16,326 fresh infections took the tally to 3,41,59,562, the Union health ministry’s data showed.Also Read - Covid to Make a Comeback in India? China, Russia, UK Report Significant Resurgence in Cases | Key Points
However, the daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 30,000 for 29 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 118 consecutive days now. As per the health ministry data, the active cases have dropped to 1,73,728 comprising 0.51 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since last year, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.16 per cent, the highest since March 2020.
- Here are the key points:-
- Apart from 99 COVID deaths reported in last 24 hours, the Kerala health department added 464 deaths as a backlog to the total fatalities.
- The state government said 292 death were reported till June 14, but not recorded due to lack of adequate documentation.
- 172 deaths were reported as per the new guidelines of the central govt, the state government added.
- “There was no deliberate attempt to exclude deaths of so many from the tally. We have been following ICMR guidelines regarding Covid-19 deaths, but due to some technical glitches, these deaths were left out. We will revise the list again,” news 18 quoted Kerala health minister Veena George as saying.
- Several states witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases after Durga Puja and Dussehra festivities. In West Bengal, COVID-19 cases surged for the third day on trot with 846 more people testing positive for the disease, while 12 fresh fatalities pushed the toll to 19,033. Of the 846 cases, 242 were recorded in the metropolis.
- Maharashtra, on the other hand, reported 1,632 new coronavirus cases, slightly up from a day ago, and 40 fresh fatalities, while 1,744 patients recovered from the infection in the state. Eight districts out of the total 36 did not report any fresh case of the respiratory disease.
- Meanwhile in Odisha, at least 441 more people, including 75 children, tested positive for COVID-19 amid threat of third wave of COVID-19. The daily rate of infection among people below 18 years of age now stands at 17 per cent as against 18.41 per cent on the previous day.
- In a big respite, experts have predicted that India is unlikely to see a Covid wave like the devastating second one unless there is a new immune escaping variant but the lower number of cases does not necessarily mean the pandemic is now endemic.
COVID-19 situation in India
According to the health ministry, the daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.20 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was also recorded at 1.24 per cent.
A total of 13,64,681 tests were conducted, taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 59,84,31,162 .
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,35,32,126, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 per cent.
The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 101.30 crore.